Darkness
by brokenclaw
Summary: Neal is injured, kidnapped, and alone...Peter needs to find him soon. Plenty of Neal whump planned, friendship, etc. T for violence, torture, and possible language. Chapter 5 up!
1. Chapter 1

(**Author's Note:** I scribbled this down in Latin a while ago…let me know what you think please! I'm not really sure where I'm headed with this yet…we'll see)

_Darkness. It swept him off his feet. Tossing, turning…He was floating alone, in the blinding haze of oblivion. _

_ He was by himself. Alone, so alone…_

_ He thought it wasn't going to happen anymore. The sudden realizations of loneliness, the pain they brought. _

_ But it was happening now._

_ It was different before. It didn't happen when she was there. Kate._

_ But she was gone._

_ Vanished._

_ Dead._

_ His Kate was dead._

_ And he was alone._

"Damn it!" An annoyed Peter Burke threw down a folder in his office. "What do you mean it's gone dead?"

Poor Jones, another FBI agent, was at the receiving end of the burst of anger. "I don't really know what's going on, Peter. Neal's tracker was just reported inactive."

Silently, Peter prayed that Neal hadn't run. Not now…not when he had a new life…

After working together for so long, Neal and Peter had begun to trust each other. It hadn't been easy, but now they were best friends. And Peter trusted that Neal wasn't running.

"There's no way he's taken off. Let's check our files and see if we can figure out what's going on." A certain determination was in Peter's voice, and Jones knew better than to argue.

**So what did you think? Should I continue it? Review please, and thanks in advance! =)**

**Oh and by the way, guess whose birthday is tomorrow? Matt Bomer's! Haha **


	2. Chapter 2

**(Author's Note:** Glad you all like the new story. Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/story alerted! I tried to make this chapter longer…so tell me what you think please!)

_1 day earlier_

_ Walking down the street on a crisp fall day, Neal found himself whistling. Although it was something that he usually found rather annoying, he felt oddly light and carefree. It had been an unusually stress-free day at the FBI- Neal had managed to solve the mortgage fraud case (and had maybe even impressed the new girl in White Collar Crimes). Right now, he was heading to that new gallery opening, and feeling very…relaxed. Even the weather was perfect: a light breeze, russet leaves rustling, golden sunshine. Beautiful._

_ He waited for a black delivery van to go before he crossed the street. Not realizing that it was slowing down, that the driver had been following him as soon as he left work. Two masked him rushed up behind him, one grabbing him by the arms, and shoving a hand over Neal's mouth as he tried to let out a cry for help. He twisted and turned in the strong grip of the stranger, but to no avail. _

"_Don't try anything, or you'll regret it." Did that voice sound familiar? But before he could ponder this, Neal felt the pain of a Taser, and slumped to blackness._

Groaning, Neal came to, looking around him and trying to remember what had just happened.

Then it all came back to him.

_Neal regained consciousness in the back of the speeding delivery van with a splitting headache and sore shoulder. The men must have simply tossed him in the van. Where were they going? And who were _they? _Neal didn't have a clue._

_After what could have been 20 minutes, or 2 hours, they van screeched to a halt. The back doors opened, and the two men appeared, still masked and unrecognizable. Without a word, one grabbed Neal and pulled him out of the van, ignoring the brief moan of pain Neal let out. Before he was able to get a glimpse of his surroundings, the men had him blindfolded. Now, they were marching him somewhere. He heard the creak of a door, then heard of the men say, "Just wait until your little Fed friend gets here. Then the real fun will start."_

_ The next thing he knew, Neal was flying down…down…down. And landed somewhere hard and cold, before passing out._

And so there he was. Trapped, alone, in pain, and cold. Well this was fun.

The only light came from a bare lightbulb suspended from the ceiling, coated with what looked like months of grime and dust. By the wavering light, he was just barely able to see his surroundings.

Neal was in an empty but small room, possible a basement. The only way in or out was a solid metal door that was padlocked and deadbolted. There was definitely no way he'd be able to pick his way out of this one, although Neal didn't really have the strength to get up and try. He still had a pounding headache, and his left ankle seemed sprained.

He had taken refuge on a bare, mattress, stained with what looked like blood. Great.

Now, he silently prayed that Peter would be able to find him, although the men had made a point of roughly slicing off the anklet. Neal let out a deep sigh, and lay back painfully on the cot, and let sleep overtake his weary body…

…only to sit bolt upright again when the door flew open, and a dark shape tumbled through. The door slammed shut again.

The dark shape sat up.

"Peter?" Neal was startled and confused. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You don't look to good though. You know what's going on?"

"No clue." Both men sighed, and Peter moved over to sit next to Neal on the mattress.

For a while, neither of them said a word, wondering what the hell was going on. Neal was too preoccupied wondering about the man's previous statement, that he never even asked Peter how he got here too. "_Just wait until your little Fed friend gets here. Then the real fun will start."_

Finally, Peter broke the silence

"Sure is dark down here."


	3. Chapter 3

**(Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update, and that this is kinda short! I've been really busy, but I finally got this up. MAJOR thanks and EXTREME gratefulness to Serinidia, who helped me come up with a plot for this story, as I didn't really know where I was going with it. **Notice:** Due to NaNoWriMo starting, I'm not sure if I will be able to update for a while. In the meantime, Enjoy Chapter 3, and let me know what you think. )

After a while, neither Peter nor Neal were sure how much time had passed. All they knew was that a seemingly long time ago, the filthy light bulb had gone out, plunging them into the cold, merciless dark. And it really was _cold._ Shivers constantly racked Neal's thin frame, as he hadn't even had a coat when he was kidnapped.

Peter wasn't doing much better, as he had been taken while he was ambling to the car, coat left in the house.

One thing the two men were certain of is that there was no way out of the freezing prison. The door, their only chance of escape, was just impossible to pick. It must have been 4 inches of solid steel there, with at least 7 different locks.

When they had been hunched over on the bed for a long time, Peter suddenly decided, "Get up Neal. The only way to get warm is to keep moving."

For a moment, Neal didn't move. Then he seemed to see the logic, and slowly rose to his feet. "Peter, it's so cold I don't think-"

Before the FBI agent could hear Neal's opinion, he dropped back onto the mattress with a groan.

"Neal, you okay? What's wrong?" Concern was evident in Peter's eyes.

"Ankle…hurts." Neal clutched his leg painfully and closed his eyes.

"Wait, don't fall asleep yet, Neal. Let me take a look at your ankle." Peter was by no means a medical expert, but he knew enough about basic injuries, and figured he should at least check.

As Neal fell back exhaustedly on the mattress, Peter carefully rolled up Neal's pant leg a little. He let out a little hiss of sympathy for him as he saw the extreme bruising and swelling on his ankle. Peter gently put a little pressure on it, but stopped after Neal let out a pained moan.

"Looks like you might have broken or sprained it, Neal." Not hearing a reply, he glanced over to see that the younger man had drifted to sleep. After shifting Neal's ankle on to the mattress, Peter sat on the remaining space, leaned his back against the wall, and also fell into a uncomfortable sleep.

.o0O0o.

At the FBI headquarters, no one was worried about Peter because they had seen him leave for work. It was a Friday.

Everyone there also knew that Neal usually came to work and left with the FBI agent. Therefore, no one was worried about him.

At Peter's home, no one was there to be concerned, because Elizabeth was out of town for a special event.

At June's home, she didn't think anything was wrong because Neal had mentioned that he would be working on a case with Peter and would be staking out for a while.

Because of this, Mozzie was not alarmed either, when Neal didn't return home.

No one knew what had happened to the two men.

No one knew that they were trapped in a basement, unable to escape or contact help.

And no one, not even Neal and Peter themselves, knew of the torture they were soon going to be put through.


	4. Chapter 4

(**Author's Note:** Okay, so I have some explaining to do. First of all, I know this is chapter 4 again, but people reviewing noticed mistakes/plot holes in it. So I wanted to get them fixed so that I could work on the next chapter. I AM SO SORRY it's been forever since I updated, and that I haven't even given you a new chapter. I'm drowning in school/outside of school stuff, but I'll try to get chapter 5 done as soon as possible! Thank you all for reading/reviewing- it means the world to me.)

It had been a long, cold night. Actually, the two men didn't even know if the night had passed or not. Shivering in the frigid air, Peter and Neal could only guess at how many hours had gone by.

Surely _someone_ must have noticed that they were missing by now. Maybe Diana or Jones. _Hell, even the little guy, _thought Peter to himself. He was sitting awake, on the edge of the bed while Neal was asleep on the other end of the mattress. Although they were both exhausted, they had started taking turns "keeping watch" just in case anything happened. Of course Neal would never admit it, but Peter could tell that his ankle was bothering him, so he had let his "shift" go on longer than it needed to, so that the former prisoner could get some more sleep.

Ever since Kate died…Neal hadn't been alright. Peter watched from his office as Neal's fingers shook when he held a pencil, and how his eyes didn't seem to be a part of the ever present smile on his face. _He'll get over it_, Peter tried to reassure himself.

His thoughts turned to El as he stared blankly into the empty darkness. His wonderful El. She wouldn't have had any idea that the two men had been kidnapped, of course. The fact that the phone was not being picked up wouldn't disturb her. Knowing El, she would probably assume that he was working on a new case that was taking up all of his time, or on a stakeout. Peter missed El, like he always did when she went on a trip like this.

The feeling of not knowing what time or day of the week was really quite disorienting to Peter. He was used to knowing exactly what was happening, what had to happen, and how to make that happen.

His thoughts were interrupted as Neal woke up, wearily sitting up from the mattress. "Hey. Anything new happening?"

"Nope, nothing." Peter had to let out a sigh of frustration, then. They'd been trapped in here for what seemed like ages, and they couldn't even do anything about it!

"Alright, well I'll take watch now. Your turn to sleep, Peter."

Before the older man could reply, the door was suddenly flung open with a loud bang. Both men jumped to their feet in alarm, Neal wincing as he did so and moving back to lean against the wall. Two figures were walking forward as the bright light from the room outside revealed who the silhouettes were.

As Neal and Peter recognized their captors, a wave of chock went through them. "Wilkes…" breathed Neal. "…and Keller." finished Peter.

Damn. This was certainly not going to end well.

"Hello, boys." sneered Keller in a mocking fashion.

"What the hell?" spluttered Peter, while Neal was at a loss for words.

"Now now, is that any way to speak to someone? Really Peter, you should mind your manners."

But Peter just glared at the man who was addressing him.

Without warning, Wilkes strode up to Neal and delivered a solid punch to the man's face. He let out a surprised gasp of pain, and would have fallen forward if Peter had not steadied him. Neal was leaning on the FBI agent, now that the wall wasn't there to help.

"What do you guys want?" he managed. Neal found himself oddly dizzy from the combined effects of his ankle and this new blow to his head. He tried to hold himself steady, standing by himself without the help of Peter. He figured that it would be better for Wilkes and Keller not to see any weakness in him.

But right now, the two men who should have been in jail were sharing a laugh.

"What do we want? Look at that Keller. Caffrey wants to know what we want!"

Still chuckling evilly, Keller said, "What do we want? Well Caffrey, it's quite simple."

Wilkes finished with one chilling word.

"Revenge."

oO0Oo

Back in the White Collar offices, everyone was trying to hide their alarm about Neal's deactivated tracking anklet, and the fact that no one had been able to contact Peter or his consultant all weekend. Jones had made a trip to Peter's house in hopes of discovering him there, but had only found Satchmo cowering under the coffee table. After a few calming words were issued to the poor dog, he had found a scrap of paper affixed to Satchmo's collar.

_Revenge really is a dish best served cold, huh? Just wait until the real fun begins._

Although the paper had been scrutinized for fingerprints, there had been none left behind. Now, the entire office was in a controlled state of panic, pulling up old case files and poring over the current ones.

On the same day, they received the news that prisoners Matthew Keller and Ryan Wilkes had escaped in the middle of the night, sparking an outburst of expletives from the usually collected Hughes. A deep sense of dread lurked in the agents' heads now…and the worst was yet to come.

oO0Oo

"No…please…stop!" Neal Caffrey, a man known for his cool demeanor and confident attitude, was on his knees gasping for air.

In front of him was a large tub of ice water, and a burly man with a stone face. For the past 15 minutes, his head had been dunked in there and held down by an iron grasp while he struggled to get free, to no avail.

In between these "drowning sessions", they would deliver a swift kick to his ribs, or his face. Soon, he couldn't think about anything else except the pain, which was blinding.

He pleaded them to stop, but there was no answer. Wilkes and Keller simply watched, looking amused at the whole thing. The burly man glanced at them, and nodded. With a twisted grimace that could only remotely be called a grin, he plunged Neal's head back down again.

There hadn't even been time to catch a breath, while once again, he tried to escape. His efforts had grown weaker and weaker, as the room spun more and more. A haze of darkness was approaching…approaching. _This time, I'm gonna die. They're gonna kill me._

But then, as the haze of darkness had threatened to envelop him, he was thrown out roughly. Gasping and spluttering, Neal scrambled to a half sitting, half sprawled position on the cold stone floor. In all the pain he was in, that was the best he could do.

"Well, well, looks like Caffrey's ruining all the fun for today. Take him back, Johnson." Keller's voice rang out loudly in the nearly empty room.

With a brief nod, the man who had mercilessly brought Neal to the verge of drowning, dragged the ex- conman to his feet. Johnson ignored the brief cry of pain, and decided on silencing it with a sharp blow to the head. Neal dropped to unconsciousness as he was dragged back to the next room where it appeared that he and Peter were being held captive.

oO0Oo

As soon as Wilkes had uttered the word, "Revenge", two other muscular men had entered the room. While one of them held back a viciously fighting Peter, the other grabbed Neal and forcefully shoved him out of the door, as Neal was unable to escape.

Finally, Peter had been let go, but locked in the room again. He paced angrily, waiting, waiting…

He had no idea how much time had passed. Minutes? Hours? Days?

All he knew was that a long time later, the door creaked open, and a figure was thrown inside.

"Neal? Neal, are you okay?"

He rushed over to the younger man, who was just beginning to awaken, letting out a soft moan.

"Hey, take it easy." He helped Neal over to the mattress, where he sank down gratefully.

"P-peter?" The kid was shivering.

"Wait, why is your head all wet? Neal, what did they do to you?"

"Water…cold…kicked me. Hurts."

Peter wasn't exactly sure what Neal meant, but he knew that it couldn't be good.

Right now, he knew that the most important thing to do was to keep Neal warm. This would have been easier if there had been something to actually keep him warm _with_. Instead, he settled for laying a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder until he wearily drifted into sleep.

With a sigh, Peter sat on the other end of the mattress, and settled down for a long wait.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** So sorry it's been months since I updated!

The next time Wilkes and Keller walked into the room, they were greeted by an attack from Peter. The man had clearly not been thinking straight as he attempted to take down the criminals. After the initial startle, Wilkes sent a fist into collision with Peter's head and the agent slipped to the floor with a groan. Wilkes and Keller laughed at the sight. From the back of the room, Neal staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall.

"C-come on guys, what do you w-want?" Neal was fervently hoping that there was some way, any way that they could negotiate.

"Oh Caffrey, you think it's that easy? That you can charm your way out of this and waltz away with your little FBI friends?"

Before Neal could respond, he felt a painful shock and the world went dark while Keller put away his taser gun.

oO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0Oo

Peter came back to consciousness with a splitting headache only to find Neal either asleep or knocked out in the corner. As if reading the older agent's mind, Neal's eyes fluttered open as he woke with a wince.

"Hey, way to t-take on two escaped c-criminals."

"Hey yourself. How ya doing?"

"J-just fabulous. You? " Neal attempted to sit up and failed, casually slipping as if he planned it.

"Don't worry, kid. They're gonna find us soon."

The younger man's eyes started to shut again as he began to lose consciousness. "How…how y'know?"

"'Cause they're my team." With that, Peter gently maneuvered Neal into a more comfortable position on the mattress while he seated himself as well and eventually fell asleep.

oO0OoO0OoO0OoO0OoO0Oo

The White Collar offices had been operating in controlled chaos ever since the news about Wilkes and Keller had gotten out. The agents were scrambling to find any leads at all that would bring them closer to finding Peter and Neal. They had made sure alerts for the two escaped criminals had been put out everywhere, but after two days, nothing had come up. Jones and Diana were panicked to say the least, but that was nothing compared to Elizabeth. She had come home as soon as Diana had called her, and looked like she hadn't slept in days. Currently, the two women were at the coffee machine, with Diana attempting to comfort Elizabeth.

"The entire team is working on this. We're gonna find them, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth forced a smile. "I know you will."

The two women stood in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. As Diana was about to speak again, the room was interrupted with a shout from Jones.

"Everyone! We have a phone call coming in! Get the tracker on to place this call!"

Diana, Hughes, Elizabeth, and a few other agents immediately rushed into the conference room where Jones was waiting. Motioning them all to be quiet, he hit the speaker button on the telephone.

"Hello."

"Why it's my FBI friends! How're you doing?"

"Wilkes." Diana was already tracking the call, looking for a signal. Jones knew he had to keep the criminal talking in order for there to be enough time to find the location.

"That's right. We happen to have a few of your friends with us, Agent Petey and his little criminal."

"We? Who are you working with, Wilkes?" The agent already knew that it had to be Keller, but he was stalling for time to give Diana enough time.

"You didn't know? You Feds sure are slow now. It's my boy Matty; yo Matt, come say hi!"

There was a brief pause and crackle of static as the phone switched hands.

"Well hello, Feds, we speak again?"

"Where are Peter and Neal, Keller?"

"Well, right behind me. At least, your pet con is."

_Got it_, mouthed Diana, motioning to the computer screen where a location was locked.

Jones gave her a thumbs up, but he wasn't finished with the conversation yet. If he hung up too quickly, Wilkes and Keller might figure out that they had traced the call.

"Can I talk to him?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Fed. Well, looks like he's waking up."

There was a thud and a scream and the agents exchanged looks of worry.

"What you guys want for you to give them back?"

Keller laughed, with Wilkes joining in in the background.

"What makes you think you're gonna see your friends again?"

**Author's Note:** As always, reviews are appreciated!


End file.
